Eyebrows were raised when Louis van Gaal overlooked defender Sven Botman for the Netherlands’ 26-man Qatar World Cup squad last year. Indeed, the 22-year-old is yet to earn a senior cap for the Oranje after representing his country at a range of different youth levels, so there was a good argument against bringing him to the Middle East on that basis.
However, his fantastic form for Newcastle United in the Premier League so far this season surely would have justified the decision to include the towering centre-back in the squad had the former Manchester United manager opted to bring him to Qatar — and the Dutch could have arguably benefitted from his youth, height and strength as they crashed out to Argentina in the quarter-finals.
There’s no point dwelling on the fact Botman was left at home now though. Much to the delight of Newcastle United fans, he’s had a well-deserved chance to recharge the batteries as Premier League action ground to a halt for six weeks due to the World Cup hiatus, and he appears ready and raring to go again now the 2022/23 campaign is back underway.
Still in the very early stages of their new Saudi-led ownership, which made Newcastle the richest club in the world upon their take over from Mike Ashley last November, the Magpies are already exceeding all expectations and look on course for a surprise place in the top four — and the acquisition of Botman from Lille in the summer has played a huge role in that.
Those who bet here might have tipped Eddie Howe’s men for an ambitious top six finish before the season got underway, but the arrival of Botman as another of their marquee signings last summer has made them rock solid at the back and Newcastle boast the best defence in the league — with Nick Pope being beaten just 11 times in 18 games at the time of writing.
Amazingly, at the time of writing, the Magpies are also yet to lose a Premier League game in which Botman has started — as the Dutchman was on the bench for the trip to Liverpool in August, where Newcastle suffered their only defeat in the league so far this season. He wasn’t in the starting XI for the 1-1 draw at home against Bournemouth either, meaning Newcastle have won nine of the 16 games he has featured in — an impressive win rate of almost 60%.
In fact, with three League Cup successes as well, Botman is yet to lose a game for Newcastle in any competition and the Magpies are the third favourites to win the silverware behind the two Manchester sides now the competition is at the quarter-final stage.
Botman’s Premier League appearances thus far have already proven why he was a target of some of the top clubs in the world. In his 16 top flight outings, the 22-year-old has made 16 tackles, 12 interceptions, 50 clearances and 10 blocks, while also making six key passes.
There’s no doubt that Botman has made the Premier League sit up and take notice of his talent, and it must only be a matter of time before he finally gets the call up for the Dutch national team — with the beginning of the Euro 2024 qualifiers in match posing as the perfect time to introduce him to the fold.
